Thanks to the wonders of CGI technology (or “movie magic”), we’ve seen several actors restored to their youthful forms on the big screen — or, in the case of Peter Cushing in last year’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, brought back from the dead (a questionable move, to say the least). Martin Scorsese is planning to digitally de-age Robert De Niro for his long-developing mob drama The Irishman, and now another iconic director is mulling the possibility.

That director is Ridley Scott, whose latest Alien prequel, Covenant, hits theaters next month. Scott has already confirmed that he has at least two more prequels in the works that will build up to the events in his original sci-fi classic (though he has teased / threatened the possibility of even more films in the series), and in the latest issue of Empire (via Bloody-Disgusting), the director commented on the prospect of bringing Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley back to the franchise:

‘Right now we’ve got a ten-page synopsis,’ he reveals. ‘John Logan’s doing it. And we know where we’re going with it.’ He is not ruling out the idea of using a digitally de-aged Sigourney Weaver to bring back Ripley: ‘You could do that,’ he allows.

It’s far from a confirmation, but it does bring to mind the prophetic words of Dr. Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park: “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.”

Of course, if Scott did bring Ripley back, the results would likely be superior to Cushing’s revival in Rogue One — since Weaver is still alive and able to perform the role herself. But these things are typically more effective in small doses, like Marvel’s digital de-aging of Michael Douglas and Robert Downey Jr., so if Scott decides to have a young(er) Ripley make an appearance in a future Alien film, a brief cameo would be the way to go.

As Scott notes above, John Logan, who also wrote the screenplay for Covenant and served as showrunner on the tragically short-lived Showtime series Penny Dreadful, has a “ten-page synopsis” for the next two Alien prequels. For his part, Logan promises we’ll see “different mutations” of the titular creature in the upcoming installments. The magazine also debuted new photos from Covenant, including a shot of a long-haired Michael Fassbender— we can’t post those images, but you can check them out here.

In addition, Fox has released two eerie new promo videos in which Katherine Waterston’s Daniels and Billy Crudup’s Oram send transmissions back home:

Alien: Covenant also stars Danny McBride, Amy Seimetz and Jussie Smollett, and hits theaters on May 19.

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